The Hacker
by JT Gabert
Summary: Seventeen-year-old Maddox Morgan finds himself in danger after hacking into the SFPD's computer system. When Ironside investigates the cyber attack, he finds himself and his team in jeopardy as well. This story takes place in the present in an alternate timeline.
1. Chapter 1

**Hacking the System**

**Introduction**: _The Hacke_r is a story I started writing under a pseudonym several years ago. I wanted to look at our favorite cop family in another way altogether. Basically, I wanted to bring back all the major characters from the 1968 series and have them work together as a team. In this present day universe, Eve never married Sam Dwyer or had Suzanne. Ed never went to Denver, Mark's not a lawyer, judge or married, though he's got an attorney girlfriend named Diana, and Fran is doing her own thing for Homeland Security, based on an actual SFPO unit.

It got confusing jumping between the accounts and the story fell away from me, primarily because another author decided to do a computer story at the same time I, or rather Maggie, had started this one, and I didn't want to be accused of plagiarism, even though Mags story came first. It slipped through the cracks. I reread it recently. I still like it, decided to ditch the pseudonym, and claim the story.

Thanks to all who wrote those lovely supportive reviews to Maggie Valley, she appreciated them (as did I). So (as we start most sentences in the Midwest), let's see where it goes. Johanna

**Prologue**

**Sea Cliff 4 am**

Maddox Morgan sat at his computer, rapidly typing code into it. He had a fine set up worthy of many small tech companies. He had all the bells and whistles, multiple machines, 3 D printer, scanner, and software. It was sometimes good to be the only child of a single parent tech company executive. He got all the new toys as soon as his dad's employees did. It was his father's way of showing love. Many of the parents in San Francisco's most exclusive neighborhood did that.

Maddox was a thin pale kid who had earned the nickname "the Vampire", from fellow senior students at Berkeley Prep. He hated his name, Maddox, almost as much as he hated daytime hours. His mother, now long since divorced, had given him that name in honor of some dead relative, but he found only one good thing about it, it made for an awesome hacker name, Mad Max.

Mad Max was angry, very angry. Yesterday he'd been tooling around in his dad's sweet 2019 BMW X6 convertible. He wasn't doing anything wrong, but he'd been stopped by a cop. He'd gotten a ticket. So what if he'd been doing donuts in the mall parking lot. Hadn't the cop ever been a kid? The whole point of doing donuts was to impress your peeps and throw fear into those who felt their cars were in danger. His father had taken the keys from him and grounded him for three weeks. Max loved his dad, but knew his dad had been stupid when punishing him by basically doing the best thing in Max's view; he was to stay at home, except when he went to school. Mad Max had a badge number, 7942. He wanted to teach Officer 7942 a lesson, one that wouldn't be forgotten soon. For all its vaunted protection, Mad Max breached the San Francisco Police Department computer easily, finding who Officer 7942 was, where he lived, all that so-called secure personal information. The Officer would be screwed by the time Max had to go to school. So much for vaunted public safety firewalls. They couldn't stand up to Maddox Morgan.

"Whoa" Max breathed when he saw the address. The guy lived in Police Headquarters? He dug deeper, his eyes widening when he found out who Officer 7942 was. He decided not to do the usual hack of the Officer's bank and credit, but instead, he'd teach the department a lesson, starting with Officer Mark Sanger and his boss, Robert T. Ironside. Max smiled. This would be fun. He downloaded several viruses into the entire SFPD system that he knew would keep their tech crew busy for a time then very carefully started on the computers of Robert Ironside.

**Chapter 1**

**8:00 am Ironside's Office**

Eve Whitfield stared at her computer screen. She'd been doing it for a couple of hours, but it felt like days. Groaning at her failure to find the information she wanted, she bowed her head slightly, first rubbing tired eyes, then running her fingers through her short blonde hair, and finally cradling her head by spreading her fingers at her temples.

"C'mon you stupid machine, find me that document."

The computer was nonplussed.

Eve rose and walked into the small kitchen of her office. Stretching slightly, she poured a cup of coffee and drank it, staring at the laptop on the round oak table. She knew the Chief would be disappointed if she couldn't provide him with the document he wanted and he'd certainly let her know about that. She heard the door open, felt her stomach flip. Time to get it over with; she was expecting the worst from the Chief.

"Morning! You're here early," Ed Brown offered as a greeting as he walked into the room. "Chief up yet?" He joined her at the coffee maker accepting the mug she gave him. He took a sip waiting for Eve to fill in the blanks.

"I came in early to finish the report on the Maroni case. And it's the craziest thing Ed; it's the document that won't show itself, no matter what I do."

"What one? The one you were working on yesterday, that one?"

"Yes. Every case note made…gone, the Chief wanted that report on his desk this morning. I'm going to have to start out all over again".

Brown went over to the computer, sat down and typed in commands. "Weird. Did you try the other laptops? We're networked, right?"

"Not yet and yes, we are," Eve said.

Ed got up and went over to a sideboard. Opening it, he took out two identical laptops. Handing one to Eve, they turned them on and began searching for the missing file.

"Nothing. It's like we never did anything in this office during the last six weeks," Ed said. "What do you have?"

"Nada. Ed, who would want to do something like this to us? What if the entire department got hacked?"

"I don't know Eve, but we better get someone from IT up here fast, because this not going to make for a good start to the day."

"What isn't Sergeant?" Ironside said, coming out of his bedroom, Mark Sanger close behind him.

The two stiffened.

"I asked you a question Sergeant. Do you want to tell me the answer?"

Quickly Ed explained what had happened, with Eve filling in details from her failed attempts to find the case notes earlier.

"It must be a virus of some sort Chief. I'll get IT up here as soon as possible." Eve said.

"Do it quickly, but just in case we're compromised, I want everything committed to paper. We need a backup."

Ironside rolled over to the coffeepot and poured himself a mug. Ed Brown had been right, he mused as he drank. It was a bad start to the day and unknowing to all, it was about to get a lot worse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma**

_Rezko Lenard's Apartment, San Francisco, 9:15 am_

Rezko Lenard drank his tea very slowly as he looked at his computer screen. He'd been looking forward to a relatively quiet day of report reading and maybe a trip to the Apple Store to get one of those new Ipad Airs, so he had gone online to check his balance at the Usata Bank and there had been something that just didn't jibe. His account was significantly lower than it should have been and he'd just been paid by his employer. Now he would have to go to the bank and find out which incompetent dolt of a data processor had inputted the wrong information into his account. He printed off the account information and found his last paycheck stub. Lenard worked in the Cultural Affairs Office of the Romanian Consulate, but actually, his employer was the _Serviciul Român de Informitații_ or SRI. In English, it translated as the Romanian Secret Service.

Lenard was born during the repressive regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, in the town of Timişoara, near the Serbian border. At the age of 10, he saw his father gunned down a week before Christmas by Ceausescu's internal security forces when he and others protested actions that caused the country's economic ruin. On Christmas Day, he and his mother and sister rode in a friend's truck for seven hours to Bucharest, fighting for space in a crowded courtroom to see the trial of the dictator and his wife Elena on charges of genocide and economic sabotage. Two hours later, the couple was dead, executed for their crimes. Life had been quiet for the boy until he was a student at the University of Bucharest. Lenard, an outstanding computer science student, had been approached by the SRI to join the struggle to keep the Motherland secure. Rezko saw it as his chance to leave a life of poverty and no advancement, took it, and never looked back.

He had earned his promotion to the Los Angeles Consulate based on the skillful completion of his previous assignments. He had persuaded the Consul-General to allow him to live in San Francisco, in order to keep an eye on the growing technology industry of nearby Silicon Valley and three large universities, all with outstanding technology and research programs, Stanford, University of California at San Francisco, and Berkeley. After making a phone call to his masters in Bucharest, the Consul General, a timid man, caught up in the glamor of Hollywood, thought this an excellent way to get this agent, more interested in Steve Jobs than in Brad Pitt, out of his hair, and eagerly sent Lenard north to San Francisco.

At thirty-five, Lenard spoke nine languages accent-free and a box secreted in the wall of his small bedroom closet held twelve different passports and supporting documents: birth certificates, bank books, identity cards, credit cards, driving licenses, family pictures, wedding rings, marriage licenses and divorce decrees, one for each identity. Ironically enough, his code name was Apostle. He'd been other people for so long he'd almost forgotten who he really was sometimes. Looking one last time at his account, he decided it would be best to have all the information he needed. Carefully he signed into a chat room popular with hackers. A sort of online coffee shop as it were with a large community bulletin board. He'd find out soon enough if someone had hacked the Usata Bank recently. He scrolled through topics. There it was. Someone had posted about a hacker named Mad Max. Max specialized in financial institutions and small technology companies and was a prolific developer of Trojans, viruses, and spyware. The poster didn't say Max had attacked the Usata Bank, but he had been suspected of the successful attack on the Landingham Trust, a high profile boutique bank two months ago. It had been kept quiet because what bank would want to lose the trust of their elite clientele by looking bad in the papers and more importantly, the social media that fueled San Francisco gossip scene.

There were two ways Lenard could address this. One would be to launch a counterattack and restore his account, but his would be the only one repaired and would create suspicion. Better to go into the bank and complain like any American citizen about the error. He would tell the manager he needed the funds for the Art and Wine auction tomorrow night. That was true, he was expected to be there as a patron of the event. He knew the funds would be replaced quickly because the bank was obviously keeping this cyber-attack under wraps. Then he would spend the afternoon and evening rebuilding his computer system and security so he could keep an eye on this Mad Max. Chances were good they were looking at the same things and he wanted to be ready when he finally met this Mad Max. Perhaps he might be able to recruit him if the price was right. He found himself intrigued by the possibility.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 The Recipe With The Spicy Chiles**

**Ironside's Office 11:30 am**

"Morning" Fran Belding called out as she entered the room.

"And what do we owe the honor of a visit from our Homeland Security Division this morning?" the Chief called out.

"That I've missed you?" Fran gave the Chief a hug, then went over and poured a cup of coffee for herself. She gestured with the pot. Ironside shook his head negatively. Ed waved his mug in her direction, as did Mark. Grinning, she walked over and filled them.

Just like old times," she said, sitting down after replacing the pot, carefully crossing her legs so that her skirt wouldn't wrinkle.

"You miss my coffee that much?" Mark asked.

"I keep telling you Mark, it's the company more than anything else I miss." Fran replied.

"I've played poker with you before," the Chief said, "and you want something. Spit it out Fran."

"I see you're not on your computers, so you know what happened."

"Someone hacked our files last night or early this morning." Eve said angrily. "They got all our case notes."

"The entire SFPD system was hacked either late last night or early this morning. They broke through the firewalls and have looked at or copied possibly all the department files."

Ironside looked at his former assistant. "That explains why you're here. More than one investigation has been compromised."

"Uh huh. It's very possible."

"Well, what and who do you need?"

"Can't I have stopped by just to have had a cup of coffee with co-workers?" Fran replied.

"No. You need someone or something."

"Eve"

Eve looked at her. "What do you mean you need me? I'm not a hacker. I barely understand computers enough to turn it on and type a report."

"You've probably got a heck of a story if you need Eve to work for Homeland Security." Ed said

"I do Ed, it goes like this. Whoever hacked the department last night has access to a great deal of information about us and our cases. Fortunately, my office, Homeland Security, got spared because the Feds provide our server, technology and storage." Fran opened a manila file taking out a picture of a fit looking thirtysomething man with dark hair swept back from a widow's peak hairline and a definite Slavic look about him.

"This is Rezko Lenard. He's an art collector and wine aficionado, and is listed as the science and culture attaché for the Romanian Government."

Eve looked closely at the picture. "Good looking guy."

"Actually, this is what he really does for a living". Fran slid a sheet of paper out of the folder onto the round oak table.

Mark picked it up and read it aloud. "Works for SRI, which is?"

"The Romanian Secret Service", the Chief finished. "Fran, how did you find this out?"

"I've been undercover for the past two months Chief, working in an art gallery on Market that Mr. Lenard frequents. He has a drop box there. FBI's been stretched thin doing surveillance since 9/11, so that's one reason local departments are getting more involved. We know the turf better than they do and the money and equipment they give us doesn't hurt either. Lenard's main job for the consulate has been money laundering which he does mainly through art sales at the gallery. He also is their main technology person."

"That would explain why he's in town." Mark chimed in

"The Fed's want to bust the guy at the gallery, but we found out that Rezko has some bank accounts that aren't connected to the Romanian government. Lenard's been selling malware, spyware, software, viruses and Trojans to the highest bidder for their own purposes. I think he likes it here and doesn't have plans to return to Bucharest when he's done with his tour of duty.

"Graduated top of his class in computer science at the University" Ed mused, looking at Eve.

He's very, very good at hacking." Fran continued. "It's possible that he's responsible for the recent spate of cyber-attacks at several boutique banks in the city in past months. With this morning's attack, Commissioner Randall wants to make sure that he is our man and if he isn't, maybe he'll lead us to the actual hacker." Last month, we got the authority and were able to plant a bug in his apartment. The information we've gotten has been useful. Department of Homeland Security was ready to step in and take the case over, but now with this, Chief Hernandez and Commissioner Randall feel it's personal and needs to be in-house. We need to step up the pressure, which means I need to step out of the relationship I've developed with Mr. Lenard, and that's where Eve comes in."

"How personal was this relationship?"

"Aww, you still care about who I go out with Chief? You're sweet. It was personal, but not _that_ kind of personal."

"What kind of danger would Eve be in?"

"He doesn't have a reputation for violence, but I suspect he's got the training."

"Who would her handler be?" asked Ed.

"The Chief"

"Why me? What else is going on Fran? Why can't you use your own team? Tell me everything and don't leave out any detail, no matter how small." Ironside demanded.

"We may have a secure computer system, but someone in the department is telling tales out of work. I'm concerned that Lenard might find out who I really am. That's one reason I have to find someone different to step in before my cover's blown, because it will be, if it hasn't already. His game is information gathering and I've worked too hard to blow this case because of some damn idiot looking for a payday. " She shook her head angrily.

The Chief looked at his team. "Ok, so you think we can help you find stop Lenard and the money laundering operation and help you find the mole."

"I've got a bottle of Woodford Reserve Bourbon riding on it."

"I want that and more."

"Not that Chief. Anything but that…"

"I want your dad's recipe for poker night chili".

She paused a moment. "Ok, it's yours."

And I want that bottle of bourbon, regardless." Ironside smiled broadly, sensing the victory he'd achieved.

"Done." She pulled the bottle out of her huge purse and handed it to him. "Consider this a down payment." Fran laughed. "You get the chili recipe when this is over."

"You taught her well Chief" Eve grinned. "So Fran, tell me why this gentleman will prefer blondes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 Ladies in Blue**

**Sausalito Cafe 1:00pm**

The Chief was called to a meeting with Commissioner Randall to discuss the security breach; Ed and Mark had gone out on an investigation. Eve and Fran walked the short distance from Police Headquarters to a nearby café to talk. Settling into a booth at the far end of the shop, they waited until their drinks arrived and the waiter had left with their orders before they started talking.

"So, how do you like the new job?"

"It's different being in charge. I still find myself thinking what would the Chief ask or do. How Ed would have handled witnesses.

"The Chief's really proud of you," Eve said taking a sip of iced tea. "He didn't want you to leave."

"He couldn't have two sergeants and besides, you wanted to come back to work. Could you see yourself as a patrolwoman again; checking parking meters in SoMa*? Besides, the three of you were a team."

"And you weren't part of the team?"

"No, it wasn't that. I…"

"You were falling for a certain Sergeant Brown?"

"No, I know a lot of people think that, but it wasn't that, we're just good friends. I've decided it has to be the Belding genes. Dad was always driven to be the best cop he could, and I've discovered I'm the same way. I got a chance to see how good I could be and I decided to take it. I don't regret it."

"He didn't like it when you left."

"I know, but he didn't watch all of you grow up like he did me. He's had a need since dad died to protect me. I don't mind that, especially now that I'm working for HS, he can worry about me like every other parent in the world worries about their adult kids."

"He always will you know", Eve said.

Fran blushed. "Let me tell you about Rezko Lenard and how he'll start paying attention to you."

Eve listened as her friend explained the man and the set up. "So I get a new dress out of this, right? This could be kind of fun."

"I knew the minute I mentioned fashion I had you."

Eve laughed. "So we'll start with the old jealous girlfriend routine? I can do that. What about Ed and Mark? What's their role in all this?"

"The less you know, the safer you'll be. Mark will be the closest to you."

"Ed?"

"Ed's going to help me find the mole at HS."

"And the Chief will play his usual role of Gamemaster."

"Exactly. We'll supply the puzzle pieces and he'll put it together."

Eve signaled for the check. "It's been a stressful day. I think I need some retail therapy."

*_SoMa South of Market, San Francisco_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 Things Don't Always Go Better With Coke**

Sea Bluff 3:30 pm

The day had been one ginormous pain, Maddox thought sourly on walking into his house. Everyone around him was getting their undies all in a twist over final exams, coming up next week; then there were those who were uptight over finishing the two week binge testing period known as Advanced Placement exams. It was a whole year of busting ass just to get college credit decided by one exam. He could understand the latter. He'd seen friends reduced to tears because they didn't get their 5s. Then there were the students known as the crazy ones, the ones who stayed up until one or two am every night working on their International Baccalaureate diplomas for months, fighting for that special diploma, that recognized they had not only done well in AP and honors classes and exams but had spent the last two years of their life developing a college level research project. He'd loved the pressure. It was how he'd developed several of his software programs, under the guise of IB Research. Max had done well enough on the SAT test too, scoring 2250 out of 2400. That along with his dad's sizeable donation to UC Berkley's Computer Science Department, resulting in the naming of a computer lab for his grandfather, guaranteed him a coveted slot in Berkeley's freshman class this fall.

"Oh well, life's a bitch and then you die." He thought as he opened his IPad. Popping the tab on his can of Coke, Max took a long swallow. He saw the mail icon glowing. Double clicking on it he opened it.

"What the hell" he swore loudly as he read.

_Greetings Max,_

_You are the person who removed $45,000.00 from my bank account at the Usata Bank, the other night and neglected to return it. I suspect you are also responsible for several other recent attacks on Bay Area computers, including the one early this morning on the computers of the San Francisco Police Department. Yes, I know, that was supposed to be a secret, but it's been talked about all day in those tiresome chat rooms. I am in need of someone with your abilities. Consider the $45,000 a down payment. Decline this offer and I will make certain your father will be charged under the Patriot Act for terrorist acts and crimes against the United States Government. Edward Snowden will look like an Eagle Scout compared to him._

_You will receive instructions shortly about meeting my messenger. Attempting to backtrack this message to the source in order to find me will result in the release of a major malware attack that will be ultimately traced back to computers belonging to your father and his company._

_Go to the police and you will be visiting your father in federal prison._

_Be seeing you._

_Apostle_

The message glowed, flickered for an instant and disappeared. Max stared into the screen stunned. How did this stranger know these things about him? He'd been careful about releasing the malware. He hadn't bragged about anything like some hackers did. Shit, he hadn't even posted on the community brag board he frequented This guy, "Apostle", had to be a hacker, and a really good one to have sent an encrypted message like that one to him, as well as the speed that he found out. Max could backtrack into the Usata bank and find out specifically who he'd taken the money from, explain that he'd used a veiling program of his own design, that the money was still there, but send his Dad to jail under the Patriot Act?

Max had problems with his dad from time to time, any kid his age did, but not enough to send him to jail for the rest of his life. Dad was all he had in life. How would he handle it if he lost him? What the frack was he going to do? If he went to the police, they'd find out that he was the one that launched the attack this morning and he'd get busted for that. Bye Bye, Berkeley and his dreams of being a software designer. He would never be trusted near a computer again. He'd never be able to walk through the front door of an Apple Store or Game Stop without alarms going off. He paused. There was one way he could get word to the police. But he needed the assistance of Officer 7942 to pull that off. And he knew how to get his attention without going near a computer.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 Robert T. Ironside, Hacker**

Ironside's Office 6:30 pm

Rick Trombley looked up from Eve's computer. "Sorry I couldn't get here earlier, but I think I got it all Chief. This was one nasty set of bugs. Whoever did it wasn't concerned about wrecking the system, he was just plain angry about something."

"Why do you think that Rick?" The Chief asked

The computer tech got up, stretched and went over to the coffee pot. "Mark make this?"

"No, Eve did."

"Good. It's drinkable then." Mark Sanger's inability to make a pot of coffee was well known in the building.

Ironside scowled as Trombley leisurely fixed his mug then took a long drink.

"Because he or she, Chief, is what we call in the trade, a 'Script Kiddie'."

"A what?"

"Script Kiddie. All the signs point to it Chief; the time of the hack, the quality of it. A Script Kiddie is someone, usually a teenager, basically bored or angry, who's got a heck of a nice set up. He probably has all the latest stuff, including a 3-D printer and maybe uses nanotechnology too. Our kid is smart enough to wreak havoc but knew when to pull back before doing any real damage to our system. Everything is still here, as far as I know, undamaged or compromised. It seems that all our hacker did was to shroud our databases on the networked computers. The kid's good, really good. He's someone I'd like to get to know. Heck, he could teach me a thing or two."

"So tell me about hackers Rick". The Chief asked. "I need to know what and who we're dealing with before anyone gets in more trouble than they need."

"Ok Chief. But before we get going with the beginners guide to the art of hacking, I smell chili and I'm starving. It's been a long day and a bowl of red would be great."

Ironside wheeled himself to the stove and ladled out two bowls. "Beer's in the fridge."

Trombley took out two and twisted off the caps. Bringing them over to the table, he gave one to the chief. He spooned chili into him as if he hadn't seen food all day. Bowl empty, he grabbed a legal pad and pencil from the desk behind him. "Ok Chief, Lesson one: BIOS."

"BIOS?"

"Basic Input Output System"

Ironside looked at the tech. "Want another bowl of chili?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 Wake Up Call**

The phone was persistent. Mark Sanger threw the pillow over his head Why wasn't the Chief answering it? The ring stopped. Then almost instantaneously, his phone pinged a text.

_"Badge 7942_

_or should I call you Probationary Officer Mark Sanger,_

_Either one, it doesn't matter. I need your help and your boss's. If you don't, I'm going to unleash a virus so big that the one you got this morning was nothing. This time __all __those cases will disappear __**forever, **__plus your personal information will go on the dark web._

_Meet me at the place you busted the kid with the Beemer two weeks ago at 5 am._

_Come alone, no tricks. A man's life is at stake._

_Max"_

Mark checked his watch. It was 4 am already. The kid with the Beemer. Where'd he bust him? He couldn't remember, then it hit him. The Safeway parking lot in Sea Cliff. The Beemer spinning donuts. That kid had been a real jerk. He didn't give a damn about the fact he could have hurt or even killed someone. He could have busted him for his attitude just as easily as his driving. "_A man's life is at stake_". Mark pulled on his clothes. He didn't have a lot of time.

How did this kid know that he worked for the Chief? How did he get his private cell number? He looked at the text. He was the one who'd caused all the problems yesterday. He'd gotten access to everything. It made it all the more important to put the reins on him as quickly as possible. He said a man's life was at stake. Whose life? Damn. It smelled hinky. Mark picked up his cell phone and dialed a number. "Max," said to come alone, but he'd been in traps before, and this time, he wanted some backup.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 Night Watch**

Mark sat behind the wheel of the car drumming his fingers nervously on the wheel. "What's this dude's game?"

"I dunno. He called you, not me. You're the one that woke me up."

"You always tell me I rush into things without backup, so there you are. I ask you nicely and this is what I get."

"You couldn't even bring coffee."

"Next time, I promise. How was your date last night?"He said, changing the subject.

"Sneaky, bro, real sneaky. You tell me you need me to help you out with this meet, and all you're really interested in is whom I'm dating."

Mark smiled. "What can I say, man. You seemed more than a little interested in the good Sergeant when she stopped by yesterday morning."

"And you thought I was."

"Guilty as charged."

"Nope. She's made it clear. It was Micki Donnelly in personnel if you gotta know. Tell me about this kid in the Beemer."

Ed's tone made it clear that the last person he wanted to talk about at five in the morning was Fran Belding.

"I got called over here to the shopping center two weeks ago and this kid is driving daddy's brand new Beemer, spinning donuts and terrorizing all the silver-haired Mercedes and Jag drivers in the lot. Wanted to impress all his homies. He was being a jerk about it, and in danger of doing some serious damage, so I gave him a citation. Handed the Beemer keys to dad when he showed up. End of story."

"You think he could be our hacker?"

"He sounds like he could be our guy."

"Chief was talking with Rick Trombley when I got home after class last night. Rick called our guy a script kiddie. Someone who could do a lot of damage but was more interested in threatening instead.

He sounds like he could be our guy."

"Great, a pissed off teenager hacked our computers just because you took his keys."

"Someone had to parent him." Mark paused. "Look, over there. A car just turned in. You see that?"

"Yeah, new looking BMW. It could be our boy".

"Mark got out of the car and stood in front of it. He had removed the dome light bulb earlier so that Ed would be hidden when he had to get out of the car. The soft click of the door on the other side told him Ed was out and ready to back him up should Max make a break for it. The other car pulled in opposite him. Sanger recognized the Beemer he'd ticketed earlier. The engine left running, the driver got out.

"You Sanger?

"Yeah, you must be Max".

"Show me your badge.

Mark tossed him his badge.

Max looked at the number. "You got to help me, man."

"Why me".

"Because you're with Ironside and I need his help."

"Come during office hours."

"I can't. He's watching me. He's hacked my system and he's gonna send my dad away if I don't help him. He told me that."

"Who are you talking about Max?"

"I don't know. Some guy. He knows everything. He thinks I robbed him a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't. I swear I didn't."

Mark could tell the boy was frightened. He made his decision. "Ok, turn off the car, lock it and come back. My friend and I will give you a ride to the Chief."

"Friend? Hell no. You were to come alone." He began to run back to his car.

"Ed! We got a rabbit."

Ed Brown broke out from the side like a running back instead of the quarterback he'd once been, tackling the boy. As they lay on the ground Max began to sob. "You don't know who you're messing with."

"You can tell us about it when we get back to the office," Ed said, getting up, bringing Max along with him. As they did, the soft splat of a silenced bullet hitting the pavement with its attendant cloud of dust and debris alerted him that someone else was interested in Max as well. He bolted for the BMW dragging Max alongside hanging on to the kid by the back of his t-shirt. A second shot hit the engine block, killing it.

"Mark! A little help here would be good". Ed called out. From behind, Ed could hear Mark's car. It acted as a barrier between them and the sniper. He stopped it briefly beside them. Ed opened the rear door and pushed Max in. He flung himself on top of the boy. "Go! Go! Go!"

Mark sped out of the parking lot checking to see if they were style. After a couple of miles, he stopped and pulled into an empty parking lot. "Everybody cool back there?"

"Yeah, we're fine" Ed pushed himself off of Max, the boy squirming upright to a seated turned towards Ed and opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it. He opened it again.

"Dude, you're bleeding."


End file.
